The Luberon when it is not August
Eleven months out of twelve, the hilltop villages belong to the people who live in them. That is also when you can rent a house there.
In August, Gordes receives more visitors in a day than it has residents in a year. You come for a postcard and leave with the memory of a car park. That is no reason to give up on the Luberon: it is a reason to go at another time.
May. The cherry blossom is over, the poppies are starting, and the café terraces belong to the village again. The nights stay cool — you still light the fire in the stone houses, which is exactly why they have one.
September. It is the month owners keep for themselves when they can, and that alone should convince you. Pool water is at the temperature it spent all summer reaching, the grape harvest begins, and the markets return to their normal pace.
October. The light changes entirely. The ochres of Roussillon, which flatten out under a July sun, become readable. You can walk in the cedar forest without sweating. Many restaurants close, which is a real drawback: check ahead, and do your shopping at the Apt market on Saturday.
One last point, and it is not romantic: prices. A house at six hundred and twenty euros a night in August is often three hundred in May — the same house, the same owner. Nobody hides this, but nobody advertises it either.